Swinney was holding an unlit cigar in one hand, the game ball in the other and wearing the grin that only champions know. The quarterback threw his left arm around his coach and answered just as loudly. “That’s my dawg,” Boyd said, laughing. “It’s Dabo and da-boy.”

Here’s what it really is: it’s an ACC title that was wholly unexpected when the season started (only four of 71 media members picked the Tigers to win the ACC), a title that seemed an inevitability when the Tigers opened 8-0, and then again seemed improbable when Clemson stumbled to a 1-3 finish.

“It was emotional the whole week,” Boyd said. “You can’t help but watch TV a little bit. You’ve got everybody saying, ‘There’s no way. There’s not a chance they can come out and win this game.’ ”

A quote was attributed to Steve Spurrier, South Carolina’s head coach, talking about how his Gamecocks might not be SEC powers Alabama or LSU but they certainly weren’t Clemson—a team they beat by three touchdowns last Saturday. Whether or not Spurrier actually said those words—he denies it—isn’t the point.

And the point isn’t that Swinney stoked the rivalry when asked for his response. The point is that he brought some fire to a team that had none for almost a month. His talk about Clemson pride gave a little extra pride to a team that desperately needed some type of spark.

“I’ve got lot of respect for their program, but South Carolina is not Clemson,” Swinney told reporters on Thursday. “There’s a lot of differences. This is a place that’s won a national title, 17 conference championships, two division titles. Heck, we’ve won more bowl games than they’ve even been to.”

He’s right. South Carolina doesn’t have the same credentials.

But, let’s be honest. It’s been a long time since Clemson added to any of those significant accolades, too. “There’s been a lot of walls built around this program for the past 20 years,” Swinney said at his postgame press conference.

And then, the Tigers scored the first touchdown of the second half, breaking a 10-10 tie.

Related onSN

Then, they scored the second one. And the third one. The orange-and-purple-clad Clemson fans at Bank of America Stadium were beside themselves, and by the time Boyd—who was 6-for-8 for 122 yards and a pair of touchdown passes after halftime—scored on a 1-yard run early in the fourth quarter, Clemson had a four-touchdown lead.

Clemson, finally, added to that long list of accomplishments.

The Tigers earned a berth in the Orange Bowl, their first trip to a BCS bowl and their first major bowl game since the 1981 team—fitting that this is the 30th anniversary of that team—finished an undefeated national championship season with a 22-15 win against Nebraska in the Orange Bowl.

It’s Clemson's first 10-win season since 1990, and its first ACC title since 1991.